Janet Jackson - Design of a Decade: 1986-1996 (1995)

This greatest hits album features 6 of Jackson's top 40 hits from Control (1986), 7 hits from Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989), one cut from janet. (1993), along with two new tracks. And thanks to Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, it's a damn good way to spend 76 minutes.

Billboard, October 21, 1995, p. 79

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #3

Tracks with Billboard chart peaks (that's a lot of 1's down there). My top tracks are marked with a ✔ but don't skip any.

Song	Album	Year	Hot 100	R&B	AC	Dance
Runaway	Design of a Decade	1995	3	6	7	8
What Have You Done For Me Lately	Control	1986	4	1		2
Nasty	Control	1986	3	1		2
When I Think Of You	Control	1986	1	3	10	1	✔
Escapade	Rhythm Nation	1990	1	1	16	1
Miss You Much	Rhythm Nation	1989	1	1		1	✔
Love Will Never Do (Without You)	Rhythm Nation	1990	1	3	33	4
Alright (Goh Hotoda Mix)	Rhythm Nation	1990	4	2		1
Control	Control	1986	5	1		1
The Pleasure Principle	Control	1987	14	1		1
Black Cat (video mix)	Rhythm Nation	1990	1	10		17
Rhythm Nation	Rhythm Nation	1989	2	1		1	✔
That's the Way Love Goes	janet.	1993	1	1	8	1
Come Back To Me (I'm Beggin' You Mix)	Rhythm Nation	1990	2	2	1	17	✔
Let's Wait Awhile	Control	1987	2	1	2		✔
Twenty Foreplay	Design of a Decade	1995		32

The latter part of the decade is largely ignored: If (#4, 1993), Again (#1, 1993), Because Of Love (#10, 1994), Any Time Any Place/And On And On (#2, 1994), You Want This/70's Love Groove (#8, 1994), Scream (#5, 1995).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Songs from Control take me right back to my college years when I was a dancing fool while songs from Rhythm Nation take me right back to my first year of teaching, which also happened to be my first year on my own and my first year as a husband.

So let me try to recall where my life was at both ends of the decade that was 1986-95 (sorry, Janet, a decade is only 10 years - 1986-1996 is eleven): In 1986, I was in the middle of my university music studies, spending more time chasing tail than practicing. By 1995, I was married 6 years, had taught school for 4 years, had moved all over the state trying to find the right fit for me and my family, and was in my second year of being a stay-at-home dad. Tempus fugit.

Speaking of decades...

Previously revisited for the blog:
Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989)

Janet Jackson - Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette, later replaced by a CD.

This was an enjoyable listen back in 1990 and it was available in the $1 bin, so why not? I've got to hand it to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, they were awesome writers/producers back then. The music was fun in a poppish new jack swing kinda way. Probably Janet's best CD, it's the only Janet Jackson CD I currently own.

Update: In its 2020 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone ranked Rhythm Nation 1814 at #339.

Press of the time:

• Robert Christgau (A-): "never before have Jam & Lewis rocked so hard for so long"
• Stereo Review: "the record succeeds because it offers modern techno-pop music of high quality"
• Rolling Stone (★★★★): "Dancers of the world unite!"
• CashBox: "quickly goes from the admirably ambitious to the painfully pretentious"
• Billboard: "sound-alike grooves on many numbers"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #1 (4 weeks, Oct 28 - Nov 18, 1989)
• Billboard Pop CD: #1
• Billboard R&B: #1
• Rolling Stone: #1

Tracks: I could do without any of the 8 "interludes" on this 20 track CD. There aren't any hidden gems here, but I like the hits Miss You Much, Come Back to Me, and Love Will Never Do (Without You). My favorite cut is Rhythm Nation, but that may just because it samples Sly Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). And when I say "samples" I mean that the funky bass line lifted from Sly is the basis for the whole song. Poor Sly didn't get any writing credit or even a mention anywhere in the liner notes; I hope he got his royalties.

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox,
go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This music reminds me of teaching at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton in 1989-90. In particular, I am reminded of teaching the drum line at that school. Below is a picture of me and some students from the drum line and my jazz band from the band banquet in May, 1990. I'm the one in the center holding the big stick.